How Many Fish In A 4Ft Tank?

[scott531]

Hey guys, I'm fairly new to keeping a larger 4ft (250 L) tank and have only been running it for about a month. 
 
In my tank I currently have: 
 
5x tiger barbs 
4x silver sharks, still very young and small
1x 2'' marble angelfish
1x 4'' smokey angelfish
1x 2'' platinum angelfish
1x gold gourami, full size
2x bristlenose cat fish 
 
Ammonias, nitrates and pH levels are all very good, as I test the water regularly. I was wondering how many more fish (if any) would be okay to add to the tank? And if so, what is a good sort of "stand out" fish I could add with the ones already in there?
 
Any advice would be greatly appreciated, 
 

 

[targett]

im suprised the tiger barbs dont nip the fins of the angel fish. You need another 5-6 barbs i would say, as the more you have the calmer they are i have 11 in my tank. Im not sure if your over stocked or not already though, someone with a little more experiance will know better.

 

[fm1978]

It's not really the number of fish in a particular size tank that's the issue. It's a bit more complicated than that, I'm afraid.
 
Even the old, 1cm of fish / Litre guide isn't all that great either. What you really need to be mindful of is the type of fish individually and how they might work with the rest of your community. Reading your list of fish the first thing that popped out were the Silver Sharks - they'll get to a good bit over 1ft long, maybe 14" and I think a 4ft tank is too small, they would barely be able to turn round... Not only that, if they are skittish and stressed for whatever reason they risk hurting themselves or even their tank mates.
 
That might be job no.1...to re-home your Silvers.
 
Another thing to consider is the height of the tank for the angels...I'm pretty sure that needs to be at least 18". If yours is, I think your fine with all your angels on tank size and volume. I did read somewhere that 5 angels is a better number so that any bullying is 'diluted'. Maybe another member can clarify.
 
As for adding a 'stand-out' fish, I would have thought your angels and gourami were already "stand-outers"!
 
Re targett; are the tiger barbs never aggressive towards any of your angels? They're probably one of the ones you would be advised against adding with angels, I would have thought. How about a shoal of some of the larger tetras? Bleeding Heart, Serpae, Congo?

 

[targett]

I personally dont have angels in my tank as i know barbs are fin nippers, i was just advising him to get more barbs to calm any aggresion his barbs may have. I just have 11 barbs an 1 rtbs in my tank.

 

[mitch70]

I have seen Tiger Barbs work with Angel's but very hit and miss and the temptation is always there for the barbs to nip, i had to re home my Tigers as they never left my Angels alone, pick which ones you like and re home the other if possible, as FM said Bala's get way to big for your tank and they are very nervous fish.
 
Have a good read through old threads and look at journal's and get some ideas from there.
 
Also how did you cycle the tank? has it been running a month after the cycle? or just a month altogether? if so you may have some very big water changes to do

 

[scott531]

Thanks for the replies guys! 
 
Yeah I know how big the sharks will get (I sadly learnt that after purchasing them) and I plan on re-homing them once they get a little bigger as they are only about 2'' at the moment, is that still okay? Also in regards to the barbs, so far I haven't seen any fin nipping or aggression towards the angels, they seem pretty content with just chasing each other around, but I'm happy to buy a few more if it will prevent aggression. Also, would dwarf gouramis be okay with barbs? 
 
With the angels, my tank is 18 inches tall exactly, so all good? I don't plan on getting any more.
 
Also I forgot to clarify I cycled my tank for two weeks with only the barbs and a liquid tank stabiliser and It's been a month since I started adding other fish, I only added the angels about a week ago. I have done two large water changes and do regular nitrate a pH tests, although I'm also plan on buying an ammonia test kit tomorrow.
 
And when I said "stand out" fish I was referring to something a bit more colourful, as my angels are all black and white and the gourami, despite being my favourite fish in there, doesn't stand out too much. 
 
And one last thing, any good plecos you would recommend? Preferably ones that grow to reasonable size, but not too big. 

I apologise if I sound like I have no idea what I'm doing, I haven't killed any fish yet if that's anything? I only had/have a 50l tank with guppies, tetras and platties before this and the staff at my local fish shop can be pretty hit and miss with their advice and recommendations. 
 
Thanks again for the responses so far, they have been very helpful.

 

[paradiddle]

Personally I don't class barbs as a community fish, avoid them if you like peaceful tanks, also I had a diamon marble angel with a dwarf gourami he constantly chased and attacked him until I had to euthanise the gourami cus he was in really bad shape, next day angel was rehomed and will not be adding angels again with peaceful fish.

Also, avoid serpae tetra, they are nippy too!

I've got a 250L and I'd say rehome the barbs and get a large shoal of neon tetra (12) and 6 phantom tetra, all stay small and are peaceful and fun to watch! I have 15 neons and 6 phantom in mine and they play together

 

[the_lock_man]

Personally I don't class barbs as a community fish,

 
I would agree with that sentiment, assuming you were referring to the Tiger Barbs. There are plenty of peaceful barbs species around which are excellent communtiy fish, cherry barbs being one.

 

[plectastic]

I've got a 4ft fluval roma 240 and have lots of tiger barbs too but keep them with sensible mates. Loach, BN plecos, other barbs (ruby, long fin) and a big L330 plec.

They will get at the angels eventually and the sharks are a really bad idea. I would have cycled the tank properly too first.